Half to albeet e



(No Model.)

0. F. DBARTH.

4 FLOOR CLAMP. N0. 352,120. Patented Nov. 9, 1886.

Witnesses C avwam coz N. PUERS. Phnln-Limn n hnr, Washin ton, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

oHAELEs F. DEAETH, 01? EAST sANGEEvILLE, MAINE, ASSIGNOR OE NE HALF TOALBERT E. DEARTH, or sAME rLAc FLOOR-QLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lette s Patent No. 352,120, dated'November9,1886.

Application filed June 15, 1886. Serial No. 205.257. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GHAELEs F. DEARTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at East Sangerville, in'the county of Piscataquis and 5 Stateof Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Floor-Clamps, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in floor-clamps; and it consistsin the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will bemore fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

This invention is an improvement upon the floor-clamp for which LettersPatent of the United States, No. 319,464, were granted to me June 9,1885.

In'the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a floor-clampembodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section.Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 4is a detailed perspectiveview of the pawl or stop.

A represents a suitable base-plate, which is provided with vertical sidearms, B, the said I 5 side arms being preferably cast with the baseplateand formed in a single piece therewith. In the sides of the base-plate,at one end thereof, are made longitudinal grooves 0, to receive tonguesD, which project from the sides of a sliding plate, E. The said plate isprovided on its upper side with a series of ratchet-teeth,

F, and to the front end of the sliding plate is I pivoted a bracket orhead, G.

Hrepresents a bell-crank lever, which is piv-' oted between the upperends of the side arm's, B. The short arm I of the bell-crank leverprojects rearwardly from the upper end of the side arms, B, and to thesame is connected a j ointed arm, K, by means of a link, L, which isconnected at its lower end to the joints of the armK. The rear end ofthe said arm K is pivoted between vertical ears or lugs M, which areformed on the rear sides of the baseplate, and the front end of thejointed arm is.

5 adapted to engage the teeth of the sliding plate E.

N represents a pawl or stop comprising two parallel-arms, n, connectedat their front ends by a cross-piece, a, which isinclined or set at anangle, and adapted to engage the teeth on the sliding rackplate E andhold the same against rearward movement. One of the arms at is A longerthan the other and extends rearwardly from the pivotal point 0, and fromthe rear end of the said rearward extension of the arm projects ahorizontal outwardl-y extending arm, M, which passes through a segmentalslot bear upon the upper sides of the front ends of the arm n of thestop or pawl N.

' The base-plate A is provided on its under side, at the rear endthereof, with downwardlyextending spurs or studs i, which, when thedevice is operated, bear upon and enter the joist and prevent the devicefrom moving rearwardly.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The floor-clamp is placedin position on the joist, with the pivoted bracket on the end of thesliding rack-platebearing against the board which is to be forced inposition. The bellcrank lever is then raised, which causes the jointedarm to slide rearwardly upon the sliding rack-plate. The bell-cranklever is then lowered, which causes the jointed arm to straighten andmove the sliding rack-plate forwardly. As the said plate is being movedforwardly the pivoted pawl or stop N is raised by the teeth of the same,and as soon as the bell-crank lever has been lowered sufficiently thepivoted stop or pawl engages the sliding ratchet-plate and preventsrearward movement of the same, thus holding the strip or board inposition until the latter is nailed, after which the operator bears uponthe arm n,which raises the pawl N from the ratchet-teeth of the slidingplate, and also raises the front end of the jointed arm K from the same,as before described, thus releasing the clamping-head G from the boardwhich has been nailed in position, as will be very readily understood.

A floor-clamp thus constructed is very cheap and simple, is strong anddurable, is thoroughly efficient in operation, and may be readily andeasily operated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, in aflooring-clamp, of the sliding plate having the ratchet-teeth, thejointed arms engaging the said plate, the lever for operating the arm,and the pawl or stop pivoted to the frame, connected to the free end ofthe jointed engaging-arm, and having the arm n, by means of which thesaid pawl and jointed arm may be caused to disengage the ratchet-platesimultaneously, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the base'plate A, having the side arms, B, one ofthe said arms being provided with the segmental slot, the slidingrack-plate secured in the base-plate and having the head G at its outerend, the jointed arm pivoted to the rear end of the baseplate andengaging the teeth of the sliding plate, the front end of the saidjointed arm having the head or lug K, the bell-crank lever K, pivotedbetween the upper ends of the side arms, the link connecting the saidlever to the jointed arm, and the stop or-pawl N, pivoted between theside arms, engaging the teeth of the sliding plate, and having therearward-extending arm n, provided with the projecting arm n, whichextends through the segmental slot in one of the side arms, thelug orhead K of the jointed arm engaging thenpper side of the free end of thepivoted stop or pawl, for the purpose set forth, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signaturein presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. DEARTH.

\Vi tn ess es:

0. A. MERRILL, F. W. KNOWLTON.

